Thursday, January 24, 2013

HHS Moves to Rebrand 'Exchanges'

Last
week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) started referring to
state health insurance exchanges as "marketplaces" in an attempt to
rebrand the central component of the Affordable Care Act, says an article in The Hill.

A press release issued January
17 by HHS announced new grants to support states building health insurance "marketplaces."
The agency also revamped HealthCare.gov to reflect the name
change.

Opponents
of the health care law say the name change shows the administration is
"failing" at getting support for the state-run programs and won't
make any difference.

According
to The Hill, supporters of health
care reform say the name change wasn't meant to assuage political opposition to
the health care law. They say that "exchange" simply isn't a very
good description. States have come up with their own names for their exchanges.
Massachusetts', which predates the federal health care law, is called the "Connector."
California named its exchange "Cover California."